LONDON (AP) — The group known as Anonymous said Saturday it has hacked some 70 law enforcement websites across the southern and central United States in retaliation for the arrests of its sympathizers in the U.S. and Britain.
The group also claimed to have stolen 10 gigabytes of data, including emails, credit card details, and other information from local law enforcement bodies.
"We are releasing a massive amount of confidential information that is sure to embarrass, discredit and incriminate police officers across the U.S.," the group said in a statement, adding that it hoped the leak would "demonstrate the inherently corrupt nature of law enforcement using their own words" and "disrupt and sabotage their ability to communicate and terrorize communities."
Anonymous' claims couldn't all be immediately verified, but a review of the sites it claims to have targeted — mainly sheriffs" offices in states such as Arkansas, Kansas, Louisiana, Missouri, and Mississippi — showed that most were unavailable or had been wiped clean of content.
Most of the half dozen calls to various sheriff's offices across the country went unanswered or weren't returned Saturday, but at least one sheriff confirmed that law enforcement bodies had been hacked.
In the state of Arkansas, St. Francis County Sheriff Bobby May said his department and several others were targeted in retaliation for the arrest of hackers who had targeted Apple Computer Inc., among other companies.
"It's an international group who are hacking into law enforcement websites across the nation is my understanding," May told The Associated Press in a telephone interview.
May said the FBI was investigating the attacks.
"We are releasing a massive amount of confidential information that is sure to embarrass, discredit and incriminate police officers across the U.S.," the group said in a statement, adding that it hoped the leak would "demonstrate the inherently corrupt nature of law enforcement using their own words" and "disrupt and sabotage their ability to communicate and terrorize communities."

This is the main part of the story I'm looking at. On principle this is wrong but I'm honestly quite curious about what's going on in there. I've heard plenty of stories about corrupt policemen such as the one that tased a kid to death a few days ago and another group that beat a homeless person to death last week. However, the ratio of bad cops to good cops is still quite low and a story like this would probably unnecessarily scare the **** out of people. But still, police officers are rarely incriminated even if they are in the wrong. All they have to do is say the victim was defying orders or resisting arrest, and the judge will say okay. A slap on the wrist, maybe a resignation, and life goes on like nothing happened.

What are your thoughts on this?

Oryx

August 6th, 2011, 02:42 PM

I know I should feel bad for the hacked people, it's a crime, etc., but still...my curiosity is winning out here, I can't wait to see what comes next. :x

Captain Fabio

August 6th, 2011, 02:55 PM

Ehhh, IMO, hacking like this doesn't really bother me too much. Yes, they have gained credit card information, but I don't remember the last time that hackers who were trying to prove a point actually used that type of information.

Hackers do it for the fun of it and/or to find out the real information that is being hidden from the public. I always love to see what is dug up.

twocows

August 6th, 2011, 02:56 PM

Is it better that they bring the security vulnerabilities on these sites to light or is it better that they don't do it and whatever other hacking group does (but doesn't publicize it)?

At least they're bringing the situation to light. Security's definitely been tighter on the net recently.

Melody

August 6th, 2011, 03:12 PM

I can't feel sorry for those which fall victim to LulzSec. (I refuse to consider that REAL Anons would do this to an innocent site like this...) They failed to properly secure their websites and webservers against such skiddie attacks.

I also can't say that LulzSec doesn't deserve to be brought to justice. Obviously those who unite under the LulzSec, and the Operation Antisec banner aren't people with good intents. They do need to be caught if possible.

Just because someone can download some n00bproof exploit tools, doesn't mean they should use them against just anyone. To have power is not just for being strong. I support only when they move against oppressive entities who seek to silence others. A DDoS is one thing, flat out hacking and releasing documents is quite another...and should be reserved for only the worst offenders.

marz

August 6th, 2011, 09:21 PM

If Anonymous is going to pull through, who knows how much damage this could do. It's possible a lot of law enforcement employees are fired because of this. This could be very bad. I dunno how I feel about this. I respect Anonymous' goal but...

Anders

August 6th, 2011, 10:00 PM

I can't say I agree Pachy. It's a given that the security will be amped up after this but that's just a side effect, not their main goal, so I can't appreciate it as if that's their intention. If it was there are plenty of better ways they could have gone about it.

Myles

August 7th, 2011, 03:35 AM

I refuse to consider that REAL Anons would do this to an innocent site like this...

I refuse to consider that REAL Anons would do this to an innocent site like this...
Never has the "no true Scotsman" fallacy (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No_true_Scotsman) been more pertinent. "Anonymous" is not even a defined group by definition. It is just anyone on the internet who does not link themselves to an identity.

Melody

August 7th, 2011, 06:34 AM

You all confuse "anonymous" with "Anonymous". :<

And LulzSec had it's hands all up, over and in that hacking. LulzSec is a posing group trying to ride on Anonymous' infamy really, and they're ~acting~ like they're in concert with Anonymous when they really are not. LulzSec is not Anonymous. LulzSec is not even close to or working with Anonymous...they're working with individuals.

LightOfTruth

August 7th, 2011, 07:35 AM

Should be interesting to see what happens, I believe hacking is a bad thing especially if someone decided to hack Pokecommuntity :(

Anders

August 7th, 2011, 11:11 AM

You all confuse "anonymous" with "Anonymous". :<

And LulzSec had it's hands all up, over and in that hacking. LulzSec is a posing group trying to ride on Anonymous' infamy really, and they're ~acting~ like they're in concert with Anonymous when they really are not. LulzSec is not Anonymous. LulzSec is not even close to or working with Anonymous...they're working with individuals.

What are you in these groups? How can you even know this.

parallelzero

August 7th, 2011, 11:20 AM

Regardless of who or what it is, and their intent, hacking is just plain wrong. It's just a bunch of twits with too much free time trying to cause crap because they can. Any other "intent" you tag onto these cases is just plain presumptuous and is making them sound like better people than they actually are. If you trust a group of faceless hackers any more than you do the police, then that's your choice. Sooner or later, the hackers will get caught though.

Myles

August 7th, 2011, 03:06 PM

You all confuse "anonymous" with "Anonymous". :<

I'm not. I know the difference. It was Anonymous that raided Habbo with swastikas for no reason. It was them that attacked SOHH for 'insulting' them. They also released the personal information about the guy that ran the No Cussing Club, just because they didn't agree with him. etc. etc. etc.

Zet

August 7th, 2011, 05:26 PM

You all confuse "anonymous" with "Anonymous". :<

And LulzSec had it's hands all up, over and in that hacking. LulzSec is a posing group trying to ride on Anonymous' infamy really, and they're ~acting~ like they're in concert with Anonymous when they really are not. LulzSec is not Anonymous. LulzSec is not even close to or working with Anonymous...they're working with individuals.

I think it's cute that you think you can internet, but really you don't know anything at all about these groups.

While I am tempted to download the information, I don't want to risk getting into trouble.

Exile

August 7th, 2011, 05:59 PM

It'll certainly be interesting to see what is revealed. While hacking is technically a crime, the public should be exposed to this knowledge, as a position as law enforcement shouldn't pardon one from being being able to commit treacherous acts, assuming anonymous actually has the information they say they do.